Life could have turned out so differently for one Colorado deputy.
But the moment she had her badge pinned on at her graduation from the sheriff’s academy, by an officer who saved her life 22 years years ago, shows how far she has come.
Escondido police Sgt. Jeff Valdivia with deputy Natalie Young. (Courtesy of El Paso County Sheriff’s Office)
On a fateful day in November 2000, Escondido police officer Jeff Valdivia arrived at a home in south Escondido, California, to assist state parole with a search. Valdivia found 6-week-old Natalie Young in a very vulnerable situation. She was lying on a bed next to her mother with a meth pipe laying close by….